Oct 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, the second day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, as congressional leaders and President Barack Obama planned to meet in the White House to discuss the budget impasse and raising the U.S. debt limit. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.44 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 0.17 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.02 percent.

** BLACKBERRY LTD, $8.03, up 1.4 pct (1:24 p.m. ET)

A report of a possible second expression of interest in the smartphone maker reversed a stock price slide, after the company announced $400 million in pre-tax charges related to cuts announced last month. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said BlackBerry has attracted interest from firms including Cerberus Capital Management LP that specialize in distressed investing.

** BURLINGTON STORES INC, $24.38, up 49 pct (02:11 p.m. ET)

Shares of the discount retailer rose as much as 39 percent in their market debut, valuing the Bain Capital-backed company at about $1.69 billion.

** RE/MAX HOLDINGS INC, $27.40, up 24 pct (02:12 p.m. ET)

Shares of the real estate company rose more than 25 percent in their debut, after it priced its IPO of 10 million shares at $22 per share.

** FONAR CORP, $7.41, up 22.5 pct (02:11 p.m. ET)

The maker of magnetic resonance scanners said net income for fiscal 2013 jumped 49 percent to $10.3 million from a year earlier. Revenue rose 25 percent to $49.1 million.

** GLOBAL PAYMENTS INC, $55.57, up 19.6 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

At least six brokerages raised their price targets on the electronic payment processor’s stock after the company reported better-than-expected results due to higher revenue in North America and Europe. Janney also upgraded its rating.

** ZOGENIX INC, $2.30, up 17 pct (02:12 p.m. ET)

The drugmaker said the U.S. health regulator has reconfirmed that there are no deficiencies in the application submitted by the company to approve its painkiller, Zohydro. The company also said the agency will delay its decision on the approval due to the recent government shutdown.

The Quebec-based biotechnology company said a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation related to some patent infringement was settled. Neptune granted worldwide, royalty based licenses to five companies to market and sell nutrition supplements containing krill extracts.

** STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP, $8.84, down 13.5 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

The dry bulk shipper on Wednesday priced a public offering of 7 million shares at $8.80 per share, a discount of about 14 percent to its Tuesday close on the Nasdaq.

**INSYS THERAPEUTICS INC, $40.75, up 11.6 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money, on Tuesday rated the maker of painkillers for cancer patients a “buy,” according to the investment website Wall St. Cheat Sheet.

Insys has posted especially strong gains in the past two months, a trend Cramer expects could continue into October as the stock builds momentum, the website said.

** TEAM INC $34.6, down 13.5 pct (02:14 p.m ET)

The company lowered its full-year forecast, citing near-term pressure on margins after its first-quarter results missed analysts’ expectations. Team Inc provides inspection and maintenance services for piping systems including repairing leaks and hot tapping.

** OSIRIS THERAPEUTICS INC, $19, up 13.5 pct (02:18 p.m. ET)

Piper Jaffray raised its rating on the stem cell products maker to “overweight” from “neutral”, according to Theflyonthewall.com.

** MOLYCORP INC, $7.41, up 11 pct (02:14.m. ET)

The rare earth oxide producer said full-scale commissioning operations have started in its chloralkali plant at Mountain Pass, California. The company also said the final unit of its multi-stage cracking plant at Mountain Pass is now mechanically complete and is being commissioned.

** ALLOT COMMUNICATIONS LTD, $14.09, up 11.5 (02:18 p.m. ET)

The company, which provides technology that allows telecoms operators to monitor and allocate bandwidth, said it received a new multi-million dollar order from a U.S.-based, multinational cloud provider for its Deep Packet Inspection-enabled Service Gateway product. Allot received the order in the third quarter of 2013.

** RESOURCES CONNECTION INC, $12.38, down 9.5 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

The provider of business consultancy services reported lower-than-expected quarterly results as customers cut spending. Revenue in the United States fell 2.5 percent while international revenue was down 8.1 percent.

** PACIFIC ETHANOL INC, $3.8, up 9 pct (02:03 p.m. ET)

The renewable fuels producer said it entered into an agreement to purchase surplus raw beet sugar for use as feedstock for ethanol, helping it significantly cut raw material costs. The company did not specify the purchase price, but said it was at a substantial discount to current costs of corn, another feedstock for ethanol.

** TOWER GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD, $7.80, up 7.7 pct (02:06 p.m. ET)

The insurer said it has entered into reinsurance agreements with Arch Reinsurance, Hannover Re and Southport Re to enhance its financial flexibility.

** PORTUGAL TELECOM, $4.8, up 6.3 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

** OI SA, $2.12, up 12.1 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

Portugal Telecom is to merge with Brazil’s largest fixed-line telecoms group Oi to form a company worth about 5.6 billion euros ($7.57 billion) and with 100 million subscribers.

** PANDORA MEDIA INC, $27.05, up 6 pct (02:21 p.m. ET)

The largest U.S. Internet radio service said active listeners at the end of September were up about 25 percent to 72.7 million from a year earlier.

** TASER INTERNATIONAL INC, $16.85, up 6 pct (01:32 p.m. ET)

The Times-Picayune said Taser was close to signing a deal with the New Orleans Police Department to supply body-worn cameras. (r.reuters.com/mys53v)

Overall options volume on Taser is 3.5 times the recent daily average with 14,000 calls and 1,225 puts traded by 1:54 p.m. ET, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

Shares of the electroshock weapon maker have risen about 26 percent since mid-September until Tuesday after the company announced orders from the Houston and the Greensboro police departments. (r.reuters.com/nys53v) (r.reuters.com/pys53v)

** ROCKWELL MEDICAL INC, $12.10, up 5.7 pct (02:14 p.m. ET)

The biopharmaceutical company said data from late-stage studies of Triferic, its experimental drug to treat iron replacement in dialysis patients, has been accepted for presentation at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2013 to be held Nov. 7-10 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The oil and gas company said it has started offering 14.5 million shares, representing limited partner interests. The proceeds from the sale would be used to repay debt, the company said.

** FLEETMATICS GROUP PLC, $33.84, down 5 pct (02:07 p.m. ET)

Telogis, a competitor to Fleetmatics, announced a $93 million institutional capital financing led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Tom Roderick said he believed the stock is reacting to Telogis’s announcement on Tuesday. Fleetmatics sells web-based fleet-tracking software.

** AU OPTRONICS CORP, $3.8, down 3.8 pct (02:06 p.m ET)

Shares in the Taiwanese company, which supplies screens for Apple Inc’s iPad mini fell on news that Apple will be unable to widely roll out a new version of the iPad Mini with a high-resolution “retina” display this month.

** IMAX CORP, $28.25, down 4.8 pct (02:05 p.m. ET)

Brokerage Benchmark Co, which started coverage on the entertainment technology company with a ‘hold’ rating on its U.S.-listed shares, said the company’s network growth appeared to have slowed.

Analyst Mike Hickey said the company’s third- and fourth-quarter performance could disappoint Street consensus. Hickey was less optimistic about the company’s 2014 domestic box-office slate and also felt domestic cinema industry growth could prove challenging.

** LCA VISION INC, $3.65, up 3 pct (02:05 p.m. ET)

The maker of laser vision correction services reported a 4 percent rise in total procedures performed to 11,932 in the third quarter, from a year earlier.

** TEEKAY LNG PARTNERS LP, $42.5, down 3.8 pct (02:03 p.m. ET)

The shipping company priced its offering of 3 million units at $42.62 per unit, a discount of about 4 percent to the stock’s Tuesday close on the New York Stock Exchange. Teekay said it would used the proceeds to fund vessel purchases and repay debt.

** BARRICK GOLD CORP, $18.41, up 2 pct (02:01 p.m. ET)

Analysts at Deutsche Bank have raised their rating on the Toronto-based gold miner to “buy” from “hold”, citing the company’s steps to cut costs and narrow its portfolio to increase free cash flow.

** US AIRWAYS GROUP INC, $20.1, up 1.5 pct (01:59 p.m. ET)

** AMR CORP, $4.58, up 3.3 pct

The U.S. Department of Justice, fighting a proposed merger of US Airways Group and American Airlines parent AMR Corp, lost a bid to delay the case on Tuesday, and share prices for both companies jumped on perceptions that prospects for the deal had brightened.

In Dallas, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said his state was dropping out of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the merger, a move some experts called a crack in the united front of those opposing the creation of the world’s largest airline.

** EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST INC, $13.29, up 2.15 pct (01:59 p.m. ET)

Shares of the company that owns the Empire State Building rose in their first day of trading on Wednesday. The shares priced Tuesday evening at $13 a share opened only a hair higher at $13.05 on Wednesday. But they rose as high as $13.40 before easing back to $13.34, up nearly 3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange after about an hour of trading.

** ALCOA INC, $8.01, down 2 pct (01:58 p.m. ET)

Deutsche Bank lowered its rating on the largest U.S. aluminum producer to “sell,” saying lower aluminum prices over the last two quarters does not bode well for the company’s primary metals business that accounts for more than 40 percent of its revenue.

** MONSANTO CORP, $103.6, down 1.3 pct (01:58 p.m. ET)

The world’s largest seed company reported a deeper quarterly loss on Wednesday as seed sales slipped, and its 2014 profit forecast fell short of Wall Street estimates.

** PHILLIPS 66, $59.15, up 2 pct (01:57 p.m. ET)

The oil and gas company said it has increased its quarterly dividend by about 25 percent to 39 cents per share from the prior quarter. (Compiled by Sneha Banerjee in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)